and I think it's the art of
practicing communication. Um so
often, people get, they, they
get, they get in a place where
they just freeze up and I think
it's the art of practicing
communication. Just being
really good at communicating
which doesn't come naturally
for most people but it's not
about natural and like none of
this stuff is natural. No one
rolled out of bed at two years
old and could do any of the
stuff we do. All this stuff is
practiced and deliberate. So,
it's just gotten better at over
time. It becomes abundantly
apparent to someone who's just
meeting you for the first time.
Yeah. I would I would clap
back. I would clap back with
Mr. Jim Edwards. Uh yeah. You
know, it's and it's it that's
what that's what healthy alpha
relationships do. Um right in
those environments. You know,
don't get me wrong. If he's got
a massive inferiority complex,
I would be happy to do whatever
he could and try to get me
blended up and torn torn
apart but he's a great he'd be
excited about the potential
perspective. The one can learn
from another self-assured
individual who knows what
they're doing and knows what
they're talking about. So, you
have great copywriting skills
and silence reminds me of
Jordan Peterson. Oh, I love
Jordan Peterson so much. So,
I think I didn't know him,
right? Hadn't studied him to
quickly say, oh, you pause
because you lose your train of
thought. Oh, you pause because
you don't know what you're
going to say next. Yeah. So, I
I have a feeling Jim Edwards
didn't know you from Adam. No
pun intended. You know, it's
funny you say that because
before all this adventure in
business and marketing and all
that, I was a professional
player. Yes. Trumpet players.
Go you. I mean, I I've played
on huge stages. I've played in
a NASCAR race. Um as one
example, mute, there's the
notes, right? But music's not
about the notes. It's the space
between. That's where the real
music is made because it's that
huge contrast. Um I have
tickets. I'm going to New York
to see the next here.
Beethoven's Fifth at Carnegie
Hall. I am geeking out over
this. Not only because
Beethoven's Fifth, it's one of
the most classic classic
symphonies in the whole
repertoire but it's one my wife
actually knows too. So, that's
great. Um yes but think about
it.
It's that space between those
two. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. I'm I'm
I'm tracking. I'm tracking. We
are totally spanned nerding out
right now and I'm going to do
one one more on that. I went
and saw Wynton Marsalis live.
You know, Wynton Marsalis. I'm
I'm assuming. Um so, I took a
lesson with Wynton Marsalis.
Sweet. No way. Yeah, he was
the only one that I was
auditioning for. So, I got to
sit in and he heard me play for
approximately 35 seconds and
that was enough for him to give
me about 10 minutes worth of
instruction on what to do but
it took him. It was that quick.
Yeah. You're an expert like
that. What we're talking about
everybody is the Lebron James
Michael Jordan debate uh for in
my opinion of the Wynton
Marsalis Arturo Sandoval. Um
you know, I'm I'm sure there's
a lot of people that are
interested in that from from
the whole genre but man, I'm so
happy about that. That's also
what makes you as amazing as
you are. You got that
musicians, man. They're genius.
I I they they've dedicated
themselves to learning
different languages, to hearing
things in a different
perspective and I now have an
even deeper respect for your
smooth operating skills. So,
let's drive deep into the
resources. If there was a
resource or a book, three,
three that visionaries can
share with us. Yeah, I love
this question. So, the first is
it's I read it every day. It's
called the daily stoic. Um it's
just a remarkable way of just
connecting to something much
much deeper and grounding
yourself. Um I love it. I love
reading it every morning. The
third is the the secrets
trilogy by Russell Brunson.
They'll teach you everything
you need to know about
business from conceptualizing
to become an expert to getting
traffic. Um it's behind me back
in the world. Um I love that.
We are not in this world alone.
Whatever it is, I don't care.
For me, I'm I'm I'm Christian.
Um so, I I have the Bible on my
desk every day and I read from
it. Um but I think there's a
wonderful broader appeal you
get from continuing to study
your faith. Yes, I agree with
that. Uh studying your face at
faith and being so and that's
why I love it. I love it. I
love it. Um I was in um
interview with Janco. Um and I
I didn't know George Janco but
a mentor of mine was telling me
about it. So, I I listened to
that whole interview and it was
really oh my gosh. It was so
profound about how they were
talking about faith and and
that's not something that a lot
of people get into. It's a
profound nature of faith but
when you can get into the
profound nature of your own
faith and also start to
connect it to other religions
and you can connect it to
other religions and be willing
to explore it. Um it's amazing
what what type of wisdom you
can unlock. I'll throw down one
of my own and I'm going to
point back there to that
guitar. My resource for your
entrepreneurs. Most of us have
a lot to learn about humility.
Um and learning a new
instrument. Learning new
instrument. Getting on stage
and performing with an
instrument as a new musician as
a musician. Um and learning
new skills of self-confidence
um that you may not have ever
tried out before. So, Adam
and and vulnerability. Big time
vulnerability. Huge. Massive.
Awesome, everybody. We'll be
right back after the break and
we'll be diving right into Adam
Lietz Vision and how he helps
those that he serves. Alright,
welcome in to Vision Pros live
with Jackson Calame. I'm your
show host. We'll be doing
interviews for visionary
professionals and classic
visions out there.
Alright, welcome in to another
episode of Vision Pros live.
I'm your show host, Jackson
Calame, founder and CEO of
first class business. You know,
as a show host and somebody who
grew up in my name, it's
amazing how many times in the
introduction, I'm worried I'm
going to forget my name. Um if
anybody's ever had that
conversation, I'm going to
forget it. Um anyway, moving
moving beyond that since I did
get it right. Um we've got some
awesome sponsors to talk about
one of which is a client of
ours, one of which is just a
program that's kind of near and
dear to my heart and one that I
hope, you know, if there's
somebody listening who could
benefit from it, I hope you
have the courage to do so. So,
first off is Melissa Gray from
the law spot. When she came on
our show, um she did a pre
pre-show interview with
somebody else and I just knew
that I had a lawyer coming on
stage. Uh it's probably going
to be pretentious. They're
probably going to condescend at
me. I'm going to feel stupid
the whole time. No, anything,
anything. I couldn't be further
from the truth. She's absolutely
amazing and incredible and yeah,
she does make legal simple for
businesses and if you look back
at my track record of 14 years,
you would see that one, we did
get in a trademark lawsuit. Um
at Restaurant Connect and it
cost us $20,000 to win that
battle. That's not winning as a
startup. We probably should
have gotten into that. Uh Apple
patented our software. Um and
that was a scary day. Um and
I've been through, you know,
you have demand letters, you
have people who decide not to
pay your bills, etcetera and
sure you could have collections
agency on that too but one one
of the challenges that most
entrepreneurs have is they they
gravitate away from tough
conversations. Um because we
again, we don't like to be
condescended at. I'd include
her in your your research as
you look for a legal counsel to
be a legal counsel to be
somebody that I choose uh to
support greatly. I'm grateful
she works with us as a client
but now we're also exchanging
and seeing, you know what?
She's my chief legal officer
now. Um and we wanna move
forward this entire ship and
mountain with her as well
because she's just an awesome
work with. So, moving beyond
Melissa over to Andrew Sosen
and what he's built at
Recovery Unplugged. What an
inspiration. We live in a world
of addicts um and addictions
and that addiction could be
anything that you end up
spending hours on. It could be
video games. It could be sports.
It could be Netflix. That
doesn't mean none of those
things that I talked about are
all unhealthy and you are
guaranteed as an addict but
sometimes we tend to over
generalize and just think that
drugs, alcohol, pornography,
things like that are are the
only types of addictions or
food addictions are the only
things that are tearing us
down. The reality is um I am a
big fan of the TED Talk.
I'm a big fan of the TED Talk
and that if we just felt a
belonging with others um you
know, that really help society
escape the need to dive down
those paths and make them
forget their feelings. I'm not
a therapist. That's not my job.
Andrew Sosen however though has
a team of over 400 employees
and he's got this in many
different cities and COVID
shifted them to launch the
program online. So, now people
can get 24 seven support from
this. If you're a fan of Tony,
if you're not a fan of Tony
yet, you're not a fan of Tony.
He's been 22 years in a row to
his program um and certainly
knows Tony. We're talking uh
after his show about a
mastermind. He's also doing he
he went to uh Richard Branson's
Island and got to spend time
with Richard Branson and and
Robert Kiyosaki from Rich Dad.
Poor dad. I share all of that
because we are ultimately made
up of the people that we spend
our time with um and who we
choose to follow and Andrew
Sosen. My hope is that if you
were a loved one, have a need
that you consider turning to
recovery unplugged as an outlet
or an opportunity to take
yourself to the next level um
and perhaps overcome some of
your greatest darker challenges
that that you might be facing.
Uh then there's the water
project and I don't have my
water bottle on me for this. I
like to have it um the showcase
not not to rub it in anybody's
face. The exact opposite is
true. I refuse to have a show
like this without talking
about a cause for a need that
I don't have. The water project
is our cause of choice to
promote and talk about because
there's millions of people in
the world who don't have access
to it. You know, I I can go in
my bathroom and get water from
the sink that's healthier than
90% of people have in the
world. Uh I go downstairs to my
filtered water and all fancy
like um and that's great but
guys, let's remember that if
we're we have the privilege
to listen to a podcast, we've
got an opportunity to help
here and make a generational
impact and what's really cool
about the water project is they
can choose which project you're
contributing to and you actually
get to see the outcome of your
contribution and I think that's
just amazing how much time and
effort they put in to making
that be the case. They also
select these projects and
remote parts remote parts of
Africa that are very hard to
get to and I thought that was
even cooler. I said, man,
they're really digging deep
here. These kids, if you're
seeing my screen, they're
celebrating water like my kids
and your kids celebrate
Christmas. It's a very humbling
reality to think about. Again,
I'm not saying that you should
be a contributor to others.
COVID economics may have you in
a position to where $5 is too
much to give. That's okay. I
understand it but what you can
do is tag somebody who may have
come to mind that might be a
potential contributor and who
knows, you might be the person
who inspires them to contribute
10, 000 or 100, 000 to that and
now, you've potentially changed
education, livelihood, and the
well-being of tens of thousands
of people that you'll never get
to see again because of such
change. So, that would be my
request of you. Without further
ado, we're going to bring Adam
Liet on stage. Uh I've seen him.
I met him in a in a podcast
group. Uh my my assistant,
Ang, love her to death. She's
as human as as I am but she has
far less shortcomings than I do
and here she was going in and
she was tagging like people who
might want to be on our show
and and she was stealing
thunder on accident. So, I come
across Adam's post and here she
is like, you know, he's like
he's like, you know, she's like
she's she's she's with all
intents and purpose. She was
trying to get the right but you
know what I mean? You know, you
go and you're like, hey, by the
way, you should check out our
podcast and both and I was
like, oh boy, are they going to
kick out of this group? Um
number one, two, he's going to
hate us. Um you know, and
number three, like, I gotta
figure out how to untrain the
habit of just pushing things on
people in her. So, we we were
able to accomplish all of that
and here comes an amazing
comment from Adam Lee, who is
the most humble person in the
least. Um he was humble. He was
grateful for our connection. Um
he allowed us, you know, we
deleted the comment and and uh
try to make amends for that and
now he's kind of a VIP for me
because of that experience but
his his demeanor and his ability
to talk through operational
scenarios is fantastic. So, I'll
I'll shut my trap a little bit,
bring Adam on stage and you
guys can be the judge of smooth
and clear. Um it's a true honor
to be here and uh I'm so
grateful for your sponsors. Um
the water project. I've spent a
good deal of my life in the
third world like seeing the
difference that makes. It's
huge for me. We've been
sponsoring a child in uh
Manila, Philippines for 10
years now and he's in college.
Came from nothing in poverty
and he's in college now and
recovery unplugged. I gotta I'm
gonna say it's a huge difference
right now. Uh what a tremendous
difference. Um it's it's it's
huge. What can do for all of us.
Congratulations. Um and way to
exercise that vulnerability um
as well. Leading by example,
holding ourselves accountable
publicly, right? Um doing our
best. Yeah. Show up as our best
so. I love love love and
appreciate that man. Um diving
into that vision Adam for those
that you serve. I love
entrepreneurs. I love what
we're able to do in the world.
The fact that we see a problem
and it's our responsibility to
fix it. Like we don't put it on
anyone else. It's ours. And
it's wonderful what can happen
when entrepreneurs feel
empowered to do that and they
start to grow and they start to
build teams around them but
the most awful thing happens is
their their teams they need a
different level of support from
them than they are always able
to give and really what I found
um in my time is there's two
different types of leadership.
There's inspirational,
motivational, like vision based
leadership. That's what
entrepreneurs are good at.
They're good at driving forward
but there's also the emotional
leadership that your team
really needs to thrive to feel
empowered to do that. Um my
vision is companies that have
both styles of leadership
embedded in them to build not
only great companies but great
companies full of great people
that are equally united towards
a common vision and able to
work with absolute joy and
happiness and I work to help
build especially that emotional
leadership within the team
which resides within a role
that I call the operator uh
operator that spends the day to
day of the business works in
the business uh quite a bit uh
to keep that moving forward and
operators are alone for the
most part. There ain't there's
not many resources for them and
when I became an operator, when
I realized, oh my gosh, this is
like super vulnerable to be in
this position. I knew I have to
go find all these people and
help them. Dude, that's that's
so big. Uh there's there's a
lot of leaders out there who
understand the value of the
emotional side of the leadership
aspect, right? There are.
There's a lot of people out
there. So, you're going to find
people who who have crazy ideas
too but there's also those who
understand the value of
emotional leadership and the
value of visionary leadership
but they don't necessarily know
how to apply it, right? Uh yeah.
It's so hard to especially if
you're trying to do the solar
preneuric gig, it's like trying
to be a single mom or a single
dad and I'm a single dad of
four, man. Like, I'm I'm way
more than the others. Um and
there's only so much you can do
as as the lone entity in that
regard, the same is true of
leading our team. So, I I've
been very guilty in my past
visionary leadership mode of
being so filtered and focused
on that that you lose sight of
the emotional leadership or you
get trapped on the opposite.
Being an emotional stability
leader, you're like doing a
visionary leadership thing and
it's like golly, you know, how
you how you balance all that.
So, we we might cover that in
just a minute. Um we're going
to come back to becoming the
emotionally strong leader. Um
I gotta find out from you
though. What's your vision for
you? What are you what are you
up to on the horizon? Oh my.
Well, in the media terms, I'm
going on vacation later this
week and it's going to be great.
Where to? Oh, dude, maybe you
don't want to admit that but oh,
I'm not. Oh, my wife, it's our
17-year anniversary this coming
Saturday. So, we have four kids
as well and we're going to get
out of town and have time
together. Um it's going to be
amazing. Yes. My vision, man, I
I'm I'm I'm burning all ends at
at all times right now. So, I'm
I'm working in multiple
different fronts trying to
really gain a foothold and
figure out where where it all
ends. It's perfect in two to
three years. I'm running a team
myself of at least 10 to 20
other coaches and visionaries
helping to build this. I think
the biggest thing I'm seeing in
the opportunity gets me the
most excited is we have this
generation that's up and coming
and they're eighteen, 19, 20
years old and like the college
is good, right? I look at my
own children. My my oldest, my
boys are fifteen and fourteen
years old and the idea for them
post high school is not the same
as it was for us. It's just
changing drastically and if I
could make this happen tomorrow,
matter of fact, my coat, a guy
I mastermind with is pushing me
towards this in a very good way.
He's like, brother, you gotta
start the the Smooth Operator
Academy for these eighteen,
twenty-four years so they can
be the next leaders of the next
generation of entrepreneurs and
really helping to build those
skill sets from a very young
age. Bring them in and set them
on their path at a young when
when they're still in those
formative years so they can
take those positions on those
companies and become become who
they were supposed to be all
along. How are you Adam? I'm
forty. Okay, so we are right
now. I was in high school. I
asked my mom, what's the
difference between having a job
and indentured slavery? She was
not happy. She was very, very
upset. Um and then, you know,
I was like, mom, like, it's the
same definition. I was like,
that's, you know, it's like,
that's, anyway, that led me to
quietly and more carefully write
a book called Dead and Broken.
Jobs are dead and universities
are dead. I ended up publishing
the book. I ended up going to
divorce and realized I don't
want to do a book tour while
I'm trying to save my marriage,
right? Oh, right. But you know,
yeah, no, college dream is
dying. I mean, it's on the,
it's on its deathbed. Um you
know, it's not saying colleges,
college is going to exist just
like newspapers, right? But
newspapers got their butt kicked
by the by the internet, you
know, there's a lot of small
town newspapers that ended up
dying and and going away.
There's a lot of small town
newspapers that aren't that
have been collecting paychecks
after paychecks in the form of
partial scholarships, you know,
here's 25% off of our
hundred thousand dollar college,
you know, go celebrate it, you
know, like, what? Oh, you know,
like, that's not, that's just
marketing, you know, and it's
at its absolute best not
trashing college. I think
there's a great, great need for
it. Um and the infrastructure
that's been built, how to use
it. Yeah, I wasn't, man. I I
watched Ryan Reynolds. I was
graduating the year that no,
the year before I graduated,
Ryan Reynolds, National
Lampoons. I never saw the movie
but he jumps up on stage in the
trailer and he says, college is
the best four years of your
life. Why not make it longer?
And it goes into all the party
stuff and I I was a junior and
I go, if college is the best
year of my life, and I graduated
early so that I could go have
fun and go live my life and not
worry anymore about, you know,
the stupid things you have to
deal with in high school and
everything. I was crazy. I
freaking loved it. I'm still
grateful to this day. Of course
I am that I that I decided to do
that. It was not for the motive
of taking full advantage of the
college dream though, you know,
like actually doing it the
right way. So, the the Smooth
Operator Academy, I want to
give you a little bit of time
to think about it. The course
world, it's only a fraction.
You said it right. The academy,
right? The something to belong
to beyond the course. Tell me
about it. I want to hear about
it. The vision for that. Oh, my
goodness. Yeah, the the
elevator pitch version. Yeah.
This is like the best exercise
too and you're like, I I think
I've thought this through. When
you're talking about what's
really in your heart. I I know
from from myself, it's it's
these connections I've made and
these friendships that I've
made that have been enduring,
that have lasted even though if
even if we're not connected, my
my best friend in the business
world lives in Germany. Never
met him face to face. Talk to
him a million times over Zoom.
Like we have these
communication modalities that
are breaking down barriers,
flattening the world in a way
that we never thought possible.
And you always have this
connection and it doesn't go
away just because you move on
or graduate, whatever that
means, graduation is a myth. Uh
you just move on to the next
evolution. Because we're not
done growing. And who wants to
be done growing anyway? So,
becomes a continuous connection,
a continuous place of strength,
of place, a place to be
vulnerable, a place to express
yourself, to get that support
when you're in a position to
give it. Because by giving you
receive and by receiving you
give, it's it's this wonderful
human connection that we all
have. So, yeah, the big picture
vision is it never really ends.
You're you're just your
relationship with it evolves as
you evolve. I love it. I love
it and it and it will. You know,
and the the successes that you
have will lead you to the
resources that you need to
continue to evolve that vision
and that's so important to
practice principles of growth.
I I love your website by the
way. Um I really and I don't
say that to people. Like that
is a very I'm going to say it
right now. Like I would destroy
somebody's way long before I'd
say I love it. But it's it's
clear. Um you know, it's it's
clear. You can see a lot of
authenticity. Um this
throughout it. It allows, it's
a safe space. You got some
accolades that I will say I'm
making a little bit of an
assumption. I did not look up
to see. Um you know, if the
person is a good person, I
think they're a good person.
But there's there's so many
genuine things I've learned
about you that that I imagine
those are accurate and true and
the podcast you have and the
way you've put your your
attention into branding that.
Um it it's just so clear and
easy to see that you have
worked very very hard to
intentionally create something
of extreme value and I can only
imagine the same thing will be
happening to you. Um what was
that?
Do I still got you? Uh oh. I
lose that. Do I lose Adam here?
Well, if I lost Adam, we're
we're going to keep going and
and talking about him anyway
and and if he if his uh let's
see if his screen comes back,
we'll he'll be shocked to what
we're talking about because we
are going to shift gears a
tiny bit. So, Adam to me
represents the type of leader
that he is. And so, I think
that if I had the space as well
as the leadership skills to
create something amazing with
his academy, I was going to
showcase to him that we've also
got an academy, an academy of
first class businesses and I
like how he's going about it,
putting out there early because
I'm a lot quieter and I just
heard a quote from from Reid
Hoffman LinkedIn yesterday
where he said, if you've
already built it and it looks
amazing and you haven't told
anybody about it, then you did
it. So, I'm a little bit more
of a perfectionist and I do
tend to wait longer than I
should to showcase things and
to tell people about where we're
going but Adam's inspired me to
to talk about, oh good, are you
back? You're here? Yeah, sorry,
had uh internet just kicked out
of me for a second. So, that's
segue of, you know, you're
you're doing it right, man.
Like talking about it and
helping people understand that
it that it's out there and
we're very much in sync on it.
So, I do have a bias. I do very
much believe that it's a means
to help move forward the earth
as a means to provide value to
people and help people find
success. So, um and whenever
you're ready to put pages out
and launch it, include me on
the opt in stuff. I want to
learn about it. We'll do.
Absolutely, man. We're going to
dive into a very dark subject
now. Um those of you eagerly
waiting, we're going to be
talking about worst leadership
experience. What is your worst
leadership experience that
you've ever had? Yeah, man. It
is dark, isn't it? Um it was I
was already an operator. I'd
already, I'd grown a business
as the second command and it
was the unfortunately a a
visionary that had lost his way
who shut me out. Mm. As his
second command, it was, it was
a very difficult decision and
making bad financial decisions
that I should have been
involved with. It was almost
like trying to I I don't know
if it was trying to protect
himself from having to be
vulnerable about the fact that
things don't always go well or
trying to protect me from
having to get my hands dirty in
the dark and that was I I left
the company for a reason. I
left it on my terms. I left it
the right way and it hurt to
leave it the right way because
I had to go through hell to do
that. Yeah. Like because I had
to help, I had to help the
turnaround to save my team
before I could leave and still
be able to sleep at night. So,
I had to, I had to bottle the
those feelings up for months to
make sure that I was safe.
Right. And
it it it was not fun but that's
we're going to be in those
circumstances and I just know
it's never going to be me on
that other side doing it to
someone else. Dude, I gotta
clap for that. That's that's
right. You know, and as as an
employee, I'm a back in
operations individual and but I
did not have the diplomacy
skills you have. I'm learning
them. The podcast is helping me
a lot with that. I've I've been
on that token equation many
times. Some of them I can look
back and confidently say it was
my fault 99% Right? And and
others, you know, I I
definitely know where you're
coming from on that. You know,
I I had a client similar. He
was a very very very very
talented person, right? So, we
were going through that even
though I wasn't being paid and
we had I was also client
fulfillment and so I had
people threatening to sue us,
super mad at us, two hour
conversations with people,
trying to walk them off this
ledge and protect the integrity
of what was going on because
this individual, yes, mistakes
were made and he was trying.
You know, he he was, he was
trying to get me for a two
minute conversation he had to
have with somebody to say sorry
and I'm like, dude, you gotta
say sorry. I like the least you
can do but not recognizing the
hours of work that I had put in
right to to protect him from
that but as you mentioned, if
you're an integrator going to
that experience, you're
developing the strength that
you need. Yes. To be able to
perform under such conditions
and to have the gift of
recognizing how do I have
better future relationships?
How do I attract clients who
don't end up treating me this
way? Um you know, that that
would be my my takeaway from
that. What are what are some of
the takeaways that you gained
from that experience? You
mentioned one, the huge one,
which is you're never gonna do
that to anybody else. Yeah.
And I'm a person who my I knew
it already but it became
abundantly apparent who my
biggest fan was and just how
what that actually means uh
because the person who pulled
me out of it was my wife and
she was there the whole time.
Wow. And just the strength that
she showed when I didn't have
to. Wow. It's
It's special. I mean it. Yeah.
I'm gonna get choked up talking
about it. But because it's
that's good. My my takeaway is
just that you know, the power
of having a healthy, dynamic
relationship um and on your
marriage. Um it's it's something
that um I don't think a lot of
people would ever get caught up
in the weeds of it and maybe
lose sight of the the light um
and all of their experience but
that's really neat that you're
able to recognize and honor
that. It's gonna move me into
the best leadership experience
because I think that's right up
there with them. I think you
just emulated that. Um what is
your best leadership experience
ever? See, that's a lot more
fun to talk about. Yes, man. I
like it. Alright, so before all
this, I was, I I've I've had
like three lives. So, there's
been a lot of fun. I've had a
lot of fun. But in between, I
decided to join the Airborne
Infantry and Special Operations
for like 12 years. Thank you for
your service. It's fun. So much
fun. Now, I'm so reservist now.
I'll be retired in 2 years. I
can't wait but uh about 10
years ago, I I got nominated to
basically, we stood up a new
kind of special operations unit.
There wasn't one. There was no
playbook. There was no do this.
It was, hey, here's what we
need to do. We need to do eight
yahoos. Go figure it out. And
it was literally like eight of
us. And we had the most awesome
team leader. His name's Brian.
He's he's retired now. Retired
military. Uh and Brian, he he
took all the slings and arrows
for us and let us go to work.
And just the the never ending
support and just empowering us
to do what we had to do.
And we had a lot of opportunities
and not to be a yes man but
always to be a have you thought
about man? Mm hmm. We bring
ideas in and he never say yes
or no. It always be like, have
you thought about? How have you
considered? It was those
probing questions that made us
question ourselves but in a way
that was always forward
thinking. Which made you better
and it's awesome. And to this
day, I I I I talked to him
online and I'm like, brother, I
don't know what to do. But just
tremendous leadership at put me
into some really sometimes
precarious situations around
the world but that's exactly
that's what I was supposed to
be doing. I was a special
operator. That's what we do.
That's right. Occasionally,
occasionally, you gotta get
shot at. It is what it is.
Yeah. That's true. Um and man,
thank you to Brian as well. I
hope I hope you get the chance
to tag him on this. Um so that
you know, that you never know
what what that will do for for
his life and you know, it's
there's a there's a movie
called uh thank you for your
service that showcases how how
thankless um you know, the
experience can be in the in the
lack of support that can be
there for veterans. Um and at
the same time, you know, a lot
of us try to do what we can
with that but if I just never
wanna fail to thank somebody
for their service, I'm not
gonna have to do that. Um
there's there's this guy named
Matt. There's this guy. I'm
gonna go on the limb though
real quick. Behind you, five
o'clock, right? Right. Right
behind you. What are these?
What what is that? Which one?
This one? No, down. The it
looks like merit badges or
awards. Oh, the coins. Yeah,
those are commander's coins.
Ah, various units I've served
with. Um nice. Yeah, you you
collect those when you're in
the military. I have like I
have General McChrystal when
he is the commander of
Afghanistan. Who else do I have
some cool ones? Yeah. Some
overseas ones like I have one
from the the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff for
Taiwan. Like their head
general which is cool. That's
cool. That's that's a new way
to display him. I hadn't seen
that before. Oh, that type of
display. So, we need to put
that on Etsy so people can
find it. Um alright, I mean on
Etsy. Yeah. Okay, so you're
going to mention Matt. I want
to give you a chance to to talk
about that. You said there was
somebody else. There was
somebody else you were about to
mention. I cut you off. No, I
lost my train of thought there.
I'm sorry. Keep going. That's
alright. Squirrel. Um so into
the most powerful question that
I ask. Um you know, if this was
your last chance, Adam, last
chance to share a thought of
wisdom with the world. What
would you say to that experience?
experience?
Never underestimate how big of a
difference you can make in
people's lives. Just simply by
being there. By being a voice.
By being someone to listen.
You know, it's funny. Leading
teams, leading people. I think
some of the most profound
things I've ever done were the
moments where I said absolutely
nothing. But I was just the
active person in the room being
willing to hear someone being
able to help them process what
they were going through so that
they could move to the other
side. But they just needed to
feel like they weren't alone in
order to be able to process
that themselves. We all have the
same profound difference to
those that are buying from us,
to those that we're serving.
But the way you're serving is
you're serving in multiple
different directions all at the
same time. And I think it's
really powerful just to remember
that and to remember to always
be serving. Whatever that means
for your personality, for your
type, for how you're going to
portray yourself in the world,
for how for what you're going to
be doing, for what you're
doing, for what you're doing,
you're attracting them because
they need whatever you're
putting out into the world. And
love it. Celebrate who you are
because that's what the world
needs. That goes right in line
with the best leadership advice
and and speaking motivational
speech that I've ever heard and
it was Glenn Moore Shower. The
guy who was the leader of the
team from Star Trek to
Transformers. And after a
couple of people had talked
all about hype. You know, and
needing to draw attention and
yada yada. He talked all about
celebration. From the most
sincere and authentic point and
finally in my ten plus year
journey of like trying to study
the dynamics of leadership and
influence and all that.
And I'm like, what can I do?
What can I do? That's based in
gratitude, right? That's based
in a reality. I'm just making
something up. Um you're like
truly feeling grateful for what
you have. Um and and so so too,
it's it's just so easy to
accidentally underestimate the
difference. Um and I like not
realize the small things that
can be done to help out. So, I
I absolutely love the quote.
That was I'm just gonna like
just kind of let you know on
that. Um I will I will honor
you with uh Austin diving in
here from Millionaires are
Made. I believe his name is his
podcast. I got to be on it and
he's super cool. Um but he's he
was saying how uh awesome this
episode's going. So, we
appreciate you. Uh we appreciate
him for diving in. Maybe we can
get you on his show. Um and in
the near future to his
audience. Um as we dive into
becoming the emotionally strong
leader of the team again, I've
everything about this interview
and I'm just so excited to be
here. Um especially this
recognition of just shutting up
and being there for people. Um
and the fact that I can have no
wiser words. Trying to use our
words though. Um how do you how
do you step into it? Why do you
step into it? When should they
step into it? I'm gonna let you
just guide us on the next three
to 4 minutes. What what angle
should we take?
First off, if you feel like
you're not ready and you're not
this isn't for you, you're
probably right which means you
have to do it. Okay. This is if
if it's like, oh, this makes me
just the right amount amount of
uncomfortable. Good. It should.
Nothing about this is
comfortable but that's why why
we do it. Um and just start
thinking about it. You're not
gonna get emotional leadership
till you get the other stuff out
of the way. So, we talk about
leading our teams and running
businesses. Think about what
business really is. A business
is a series of repeatable tasks
that are operated on a
structure and a cadence
repeated, right? Most of the
stuff that happens in our
business, we can put it on a
calendar, we can time it, has
an SOP, has all this stuff that
has happened before and after.
Systematize it. Make it simple
and easy to do. Make it a
job. Use project management
tools for what they were
intended to do. Make your life
easier and give people a
roadmap to success. It's
amazing what people will do. If
you tell them what success looks
like and how to achieve success
and what the KPIs are. It's all
so simple but it's just a matter
of putting it in place. Once
you get all that stuff in place,
not only is your load easier
because you're not having to do
anything all day which by the
way, most people don't want to
be told what to do all day.
They want to work from a plan.
This is what opens up the
opportunity for that deeper
level of engagement because
you've gotten all the other crap
out of the way. Not crap. It's
the stuff we have to do, right?
But when you're like managing
it, it feels like crap. So, get
that out of your way. That will
be what opens the doors and
they'll open quite naturally in
the way that they're supposed
to be. Your team's going to be
different to how they react to
it. I can teach you all day and
night how to create the
operating system and I need to
guide you to the emotional
leadership because how you
perceive it, how you embody it,
and how your team feeds back
into it is going to be also very
dependent upon those
interpersonal dynamics but get
the other stuff out of the way
first. Dude, I gotta I gotta
highlight here your passion. Um
and I wrote down at the bottom,
I wrote down your confidence as
a leader. So many people will
label you, Adam. Mislabel you
as somebody who's condescending
right now. Um right. They'll
misplace the reality of your
passion when in reality, there's
a massive difference between
somebody who's self-assured and
passionate versus somebody who
is arrogant and impatient which
you're not in this conversation
and and process. So, sometimes
tone can get confusing for
some people. There's so many
entrepreneurs that fail to
recognize that due to our own
defensiveness, right? It's like,
oh my gosh, Adam, like you're
speaking at me. I know I need
to do those things but you know
like, would you calm down and
you know, and like II know I'm
I know I'm struggling with this
but like, do you really have to
make it hurt? You're not. You're
not making it hurt. You're just
you're just confident. Uh do you
see this challenge play out in
the face of a business that has
a you know, has enough
emotional intelligence to be
aware of the different virtues
and vices but has a hard time
pinpointing which one to allow,
which one not to allow. What do
you do in that scenario? You
just shut up. Yeah. Like you
said earlier, shut up and
listen first off. Um but more
than anything, I control the
marketing. I let them do the
things. Let them help decide
like the staging of it. There's
how I would like to do it of
course. Um but it's not about
me. It's about you. So, so it
usually comes in like one of
three areas is it's primary ways
it comes. Either I need really
help with our marketing. I'm like
great. Let me help you create a
marketing system. And so you're
operating from a plan and a
series of repeatable actions
that guide your marketing versus
your marketing. Um or we'll do a
project. Simple like let's build
a project. Let's execute that
project. See how much better
that felt? Oh it did.
Fantastic. That's how it should
feel. Projects should be fun.
They shouldn't feel really
intense. Uh the third and
probably the the the least
likely to be the initial step
of what's honestly was the most
powerful step for me personally
is all that other day to day
stuff. Like how do you manage
your marketing process? Who's
like all the little things that
have to happen in the business?
Uh that's usually actually a
bigger task to overcome. So,
that's why it happens a lot less
that we start with that because
if we can nail projects, we can
nail marketing systems down. Now
we have a framework to apply to
the other ones. Right. But when
you learn, when you get all the
day to day out of the way and
systematize, boy, dude, it makes
you feel like you're in a myth.
Um and oh yeah. It's all about
that process and so many of us
as entrepreneurs and that's why
the book's so successful and so
revered by those who found it
without those systems. There's
so many of us that operate
without that. You know, we're
we're trying to find the
unicorn to fix everything and
do everything that we take for
granted due to the curse of
knowledge. Um and now we think
everything we do is supposed to
be and it's not, it's not easy,
but it's not easy. It's not
easy. And perhaps coming from
your musician background, your
military background, um you
know, I I'm sure each one of
those have contributed to in
different ways for seeing
leadership at work, leadership
development, training,
procedures, resources, like how
it's done. I mean, I'm sure you
can imagine how I mean, did you
ever have to go to war or go
to war without a license and
without without resources and
without templates like without
any instruction and what was
that like? Yeah, once. Um I
actually just recorded a podcast
episode on. It'll come out next
week. Uh it's called being on
an island. Um so like you see
these movies where like they'll
say, hey, go to this country.
A guy will meet you at the
airport. Uh that actually does
happen at the time of hey, fly
to this country. A guy will meet
at the airport. Um and there
was no playbook. There was a
goal. Uh and the and the
general sent me out there with
here's our goal. Go make it
happen. And man, that was like
about it was the most
exhilarating and the worst
feeling all at the same time.
Thankfully, it happened like
right near the tail end of my
career. So, I'd already built
some experience up to do it.
And I think that's even though
you've had the experience, I'm
glad I'm glad you talk about
that, right? It's yeah. And I
think there's there's so many
people like entrepreneurship is
easier to start than ever
before. And there's so many
voices that tell you like, just
go, just do it, just get it
done and and you know, I think
that for young kids, yes. Um
you know, like, you know, you
got all the all the reason in
the world. Um you know, you
know, you can always go back to
the beginning of your career
as as needed but when you got a
family to provide for, you know,
and and you've got benefits
that you're going to lose and
and things like that. Those
those aspects, I hope, I hope
entrepreneurs will take that in
consideration and also consider
where where can you find the
mentors that are going to help
you on this process if you're
going to make that jump because
there's there's a and and a
mentor that has the right
amount of time. You know, if
you've got all the money in the
bank, you know, you're going to
make it. Great. Get under his
wing. Oh, I mean, I like go
join that mastermind. Um at
that at the high ticket but if
you think joining Click Funnels,
you know, by paying for the
base price and attending a
conference of a whole bunch of
other hungry individuals who
are ready to eat you alive, you
know, so they can survive as
well because they're not Russell
Brunson and aren't even close
to becoming such. Then, you
know, you're you're you're going
to set yourself up for the
next step. So, I would say, you
know, visionaries listening in,
if you don't have an Adam Liet
in your life or somebody like
myself, you know, or you don't
have the ability to go pay for
Jake Larson, Tony Robbins to be
your direct compadre in the
process of of growing your
business, then the odds are not
in your favor. Um 96% of
businesses lose within 10 years
and 4% survive. Talk to enough
people and see that, no, no,
no, winning in the game of
business is challenging but
that doesn't mean it's not
worth it and that doesn't mean
you can't. It just means you
gotta find the people like
Alex Ramozi as well as really
good about putting lots of lots
of the formulas and the
frameworks out there. So, Adam,
you've blessed us tremendously
today. I really appreciate all
that you've thrown down on the
landing page visionaries.
You'll see the action steps
that Adam recommends taking.
We'll probably drop that podcast
down below once we get that
link. Also, other programs that
he has will put on there and
our invitation to Vision Pros
is in the top right corner of
that page, you'll see a be our
guest button. We'd like to
invite you to apply even if
you're not the Adam Liet and
Bill Gates status. Um you know,
of of leader and you're just
getting started. You don't have
all these cool landing pages
and stuff built. If you're
trying to help people and you
have an honest vision where
you're striving to bless other
people's lives, then apply to
Vision Pros. If you have
produced vanity wise, it's
about what you are producing as
a leader. It's about your
desire to lead people with the
right attitude and the right
capabilities. We'd love to have
you on the stage and Bill Gates
if you're listening, I'd love
to have you on the show as well.
So, everybody have a fantastic
rest of your day and we will
see you on the next episode.
Thank you, Adam, for being
here. Thank you, Jackson. Been
an absolute pleasure.
Absolutely. Thank you for being
here today. I'm really happy
that you tuned in to Vision
Pros. We'll be waiting for
your reactions as these
episodes continue to move
forward. This is going to get
more and more fun. We'll have
more and more engagement as
well. We'll invite people to
participate in the show and
thank you for giving us your
time and for building out your